Abrasive dispenser for stonecutting saws



J 1951 J. E. COUTURE 2,537,445

ABRASIVE DISPENSER FOR STONE-CUTTING SAWS Filed Dec. 10, 1948 v 5Sheets-Sheet l WW EM Jan. 9, 1951 J. E. COUTURE ABRASIVE DISPENSER FORSTONE-CUTTING SAWS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 10, 1948 Fig.2.

r 0 t n e w I Joseph E. Couture mug away EMg Jan. 9, 1951 J COUTURE2,537,445

ABRASIVE DISPENSER FOR STONE-CUTTING SAWS Filed Dec. 10, 1948Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig. 3. 64

76 ow Ta -70 I 68 s 72 o 98 Ill 'ylOZ In (L J 94 /00 50 4 [I 2 a4 52 I/a 93 Fig. 4

Inventor Josep h E. Couture Wynn 8y:

Patented Jan. 9, 1951 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

enmsrvn DISPENSER ron srouc oor'rmo sews Joseph E, Couture, South Barre,Vt; Application December 10, 1.948, SerialNot 6461Av This inventionrelates generally to stone cutting machines and more particularlytodispensing means for the abrasive used to accelerate the cutting actionof the saws.

A primary objectof this invention is to provide dispensing means forabrasive for use in com nection with stone cutting saws, whereby theabrasive will be uniformly distributed to the different saw blades in agang saw such as usually employed in these machines. Another object ofthis invention, closely allied to the preceding object, is to acceleratethe speed with which stone maybe cut, the uniform distributionofabrasive tothe different saw blades being reflected in increased cuttingspeed of the machine.

Still another object of this invention of a spe cific nature, is toprovide a rotary hopper with means to charge sol-id abrasive intoone endandmeans to allow overflow of solid abrasive mixed with a water carrier"from the other end of the rotating hopper; the feed outlets beingpositioned intermediate the ends of the rotary hopper, and thisconstruction permitting an assured ample charging of the hopper atalltimes during operationv without the necessity of providing extremelyaccurate metering meansi sun another object of this invention. also of aspecific nature, is toprovide a rotary spout; which by virtue of itsrotation and the general arrangethereof with the other elements of themachine will not become clogged and will assure even distribution of theabrasive, the rotary spout being used. conjunction with a fixedaperturee distributor head and a plurality of adjustable distributortu-bes leading from the distributor headto the different saw blades.

3 Claims.- (01.125 12? 2 "Figure Z'is an end elevational viewof'theasksembled machine, as viewed from the left hand side of Figure I;Figure 3- is an enlarged fragmentary detail view of vertical sectionalcharacter and" taken; sub

stantially upon the line 3'3 of Figure 1.;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on a line 4 of Figure 3}.with the emf of the rotary spout being removed; and,

Figure 5 is a three dimensional view of the part hereinafter referred toas the collector chute.

Similar characters of reference, designate simi lar or identicalelements and portions throughout the specification and throughout thedifferent views in the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, this in? 1 vention is adaptedto be used with an environment including power drive meansdiagrammatically indicated at [II and including. a pitmah l2 pivoted ona gang saw frame. The frame [4' is mounted 'by means'of a plurality oflinks IE on uprights [8 in the main frame of the machine,

Yet another object of this invention is to provide improved means forreturning used abrasive to the distributor means while by-passing therotary happen 1 And a last obiect to be mentioned specifically is toprovide dispenser means for abrasive for use with many different typesoi stone cutting saws, which will be inexpensive and practicable tomanufacture, simple to use, and which will give. generally efficient anddurable service.

With these objects definitely in: view, this invention resides incertain novel. featuresof construction, combination. and. arrangement ofelements and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail in thespecification, particularly pointed out in theappen-deci claims, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings which form amaterial part ofthis application, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the assembled machine;

partially through the stone which main. frame may be embedded. in. a.concrete foundation- 20 The foundation Zil be provided with a pit 22 inwhich are mounted rails 24 to carry a trolley 26. The trolley 25supports I the'stone 23 to be cut into slabs and. Figure? representsthis stone as being partiall cut and as having a plurality of. saw

A pair of traveler blocks 3? are threadedly as? sociated' withvertically disposed and threaded rods 34 whichv are journaled in thevertical meme bers' 18 of the main frameof the machine and which areprovided. with sprocket wheels at their top ends for coaction with anendless chain 36; so that the two rods will be rotated. simultaneouslyby means of a pair of bevel gears 38 driven by adouble pulley 411 and.av belt 42, whichbelt will be understood. to be operatively connectertwith suitable power means.

All. the foregoing: structure can be varied considerably from thatdescribed and illustrated. herein, and. the principal features of thisinvenition. are capable of incorporation and use with many differenttypes.- of machines which may considered. as merely exemplified by themachine described above. The chief features of this in ventionmay beconsidered as related to the rotary hopper generally indicated at M, thecollector chute 46, tunnel. 48 andv rotary spout 5G, together with. thefixed distributor head 5'2, clis-,,

tributor tubes 54', each of which will be described 7 kerts 31!extending ing to the rotary hopper 44. Another pipe 62, with its branchpipes 63, is used to initially admit water directly to the collectorchute 46, this pipe 62 having a control valve 65. The other mainfeatures of this invention include the tubular means 64 used forinitially charging the rotary hopper 44 with solid granulated abrasive,and the overflow collector chute 66 at the opposite end of the rotaryhopper, this last mentioned element 66 communicating with an overflowoutlet in the rotary hopper, this overflow outlet being considered animportant feature of this invention.

Referring now to certain details of construction, it may first be notedthat the rotary hopper 44 is a hollow cylinder, inclined slightly to thehorizontal and mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis on adrive shaft 68 which is journaled in brackets I supported on the mainframe of the machine and which is driven by a pulley i2 and a belt I4connected to suitable power means, thought unnecessary to be illustratedin this application. One end of the hopper 44 is apertured as at IE toreceive the lower end of the tubular member 64 used to charge the rotaryhopper with granulated solid abrasive, while the opposite end of therotary hopper is apertured at it to provide what will be referred to asthe overflow outlet for the hopper. Intermediate the ends of the hopperthere are provided a plurality of feed outlets 89 which arecircumferentially disposed on the hopper and aligned with the collectorchute 46.

Therotary spout 50 is rigidly secured to the funnel 48 andto a drivepulley 82 which is represented as driven by a belt 84 connected toasource of power which is thought unnecessary to be illustrated. Thefunnel 48 receives abrasive and water from the collector chute 46 andthe lower end of the rotary spout distributes this mixture to thedistributor head 52 which may be constructed of two concentric verticalwall members 85 and 86 with radially disposed vertical walls 88therebetween, and a plurality of short vertical outlet tubes 90 leadingfrom a plurality of funnel-shaped floor panels 92, best shown in Figure3. The inner vertical wall 86 may be further supported by a spider 93,and the distributor head SImay-be supported as a unit by a plurality'ofdepending brackets 94 secured to suitable cross frame members 95 and 98and angle members I011. The rotary spout is journaled in a bearing I02carried by further cross members I04 which are supported by the framemembers 96, and the drive pulley 821 may seat upon the upper end or" thebearing I02. The tubes 54 are secured to the lower ends of the outlets90 and these tubes may be flexible and adjustable so that the same maybe shifted as desired to direct the abrasive to the different sawblades.

It will, be noted that each of the collector chutes 4'6 and 6Bare'generally semi-circular in form and enclose lower portions of therotary hopper 44. These chutes are rigidly secured by suitable bracketson the main frame of the machine, and the overflow outlet 18communicates through the second collector chute 66, so that overflowabrasive and water will be directed into the pit 22 or into any suitablecatch basin provided, according to the preferred method of operation asrelated. to the particular conditions under which themachine is beingused. In any event, the provision ,of the overflow outlet 18 assuresthat the rotary hopper can be maintained with a level of abrasivetherein suflicient to make certain that the abrasive will be dispenseduniformly from the rotary hopper, thereby assuring uniform operation ofthe machine.

The operation of this machine will be clearly understood from aconsideration of the foregoing description of the mechanical detailsthereof, taken in connection with the drawings and with the aboverecited objects of the invention. Further description would, therefore,appear to be unnecessary.

Obviously minor variation from the details of construction of thedisclosed embodiment may be resorted to without departure from thespirit and scope of this invention, and the invention should bedetermined as limited only by a proper interpretation of the terms usedin the subjoined claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. An abrasive dispenser for a stone cutting saw, comprising a rotatinghopper having feed outlets and an overflow outlet, distributor means toconduct abrasive from said feed outlets to the saw, means to returnabrasive escaping from said overflow outlet to said hopper by-passingsaid distributor means, whereby abrasive moves through said hopper ingreater volume than through said distributor means to assure ample anduniform supply to said distributor means, said distributor meansincluding a rotary spout mounted for rotation about a vertical axis andreceiving abrasive from said feed outlets, and a plurality of adjustabletubes having their upper ends arranged in a circle to receive abrasivefrom said rotary spout.

2. A dispenser according to claim 1 and including a collector chutepartially surrounding said rotating hopper adjacent said feed outlets,and a funnel on the upper end of said rotary spout to receive abrasivefrom said collector chute.

3. An abrasive dispenser for a stone cutting saw, comprising a rotatinghopper having feed outlets and an overflow outlet, distributor means toconduct abrasive from said feed outlets to the saw, means to returnabrasive escaping from said overflow outlet to said hopper by-passingsaid distributor means, whereby abrasive moves through said hopper ingreater volume than through said distributor means to assure ample anduniform supply to said distributor means, a collector chute partiallysurrounding said rotating hopper adjacent said feed outlets, saiddistributor means including a rotary spout mounted for rotation above avertical axis and receiving abrasive from said feed outlets a funnel onthe upper end of said rotary spout to receive abrasive from saidcollector chute, a water pipe leading directly into said collector chutefrom an outside source, and means to collect and to return used abrasiveand water to said collector chute for re-use, said pipeand lastmentioned means both by-passing said rotary hopper.

. JOSEPH E. COUTURE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Y Date 381,999 Hawley May 1, 1888971,746 Hanson et al Oct. 4, 1910- 1,853,611 Healy Apr. 12, 1932'

